Tought this engine could have some auto-speed limiter function as kind of comfort option during, a long space flights in free mode. What I mean is for planetarim mode in free flight an automatic speed down in proximity of some object. This function should take distance an size of the nearest objcet to account. So when you approach to the star at say few parsecs, speed drops as you get closer and closer, so you can gently enter that solar system. Some time it's very anoying when you cruise interstellar and try to get closer to some star. It's like, here it is, here it is, one more step.... pitcheeew! And you are off at the far other side of system. Speed limitation should be also related to the size of the body, so when you approach to some giant star and some tiny moon, at distance that covers, say, 2/3 of screen, orbit period around both bodies shuld be equivalent.

I'll add that it should be based on the distance using an ellipsoid. You don't want to slow down just because an object is passing "far" to your side. At the same time, you don't want to miss a target because you're going so fast that at one time the object is way ahead and the next it's way behind.

One benefit of whipping along at high speed with your target "far away, far away, far away, PITCHEW!!! Behind you" is that it really brings home the scale of the universe and the insanity of the speeds required to get anywhere quickly (and the absurd slowness of the speed of light).

While this feature is a good idea, and I support its optional implementation, it would sand off the edges off that shocking, jarring experience of scale.

So I say yes, it should be implemented, but no, it shouldn't be on by default.

On a related note - I use a gamepad to fly the free camera in SE. I have it bound so the increase/decrease speed buttons are the shoulder (bumper) buttons. With a bit of practice, I've gotten reasonably ok at flying into star systems "on manual". It's an incredible thing to experience.

When I'm centered on the target and somehow go past it, to me it feels glitchy. I should have crashed in the star/planet. Sure you could pretend that because of FTL, I was like a ghost, not interacting with matter and just going through stuff. But since there is no special effect when passing the speed of light (not in free mode at least), it doesn't feel like I should be a ghost.

And to me, the feel of speed doesn't come from going through things, but because galaxies are just streaks of light. Galaxies are humongous and yet they appear and are gone in a blink of an eye.

So to me: optional of course, and default. It's more user friendly on top of that. If you don't like it, you could be the one switching the settings